wrestling / Columns
The Fink’s Payload 01.15.07: Long Term Angles
Matt: At least, that’s what I’m hoping will pass for an excuse. Anyway, I’m Mathew Sforcina, the bloke who caused the delay with the column. I will accept your abuse…now.
Nick: And I’m John Doe Jersey. If anybody gets the reference and can actually tell me what that means I’m calling myself, then good on you.
Matt: And that’s enough of that. Let’s get into all the lovely ideas we received (that were not delayed Rumble ideas. I understand good stories take time to write out, but we do need entries before the Sunday before they are posted, not the day they are due to be posted, sorry Wesley and Dominick.)
Anyway, we start off our look at long, epic feuds with Jacob Haigh, who wants to pit Cena against Kennedy. I apologize for the obvious delay issue.
At New Years Revolution Mr. Kennedy will interfere and cost Cena the title. Which makes Cena really angry and wants Kennedy at the Rumble, but T-Lo denies it because he wants Kennedy in the Royal Rumble, so that leads to Cena cashing in his rematch clause at the rumble against Umaga, which once again ends with Kennedy interfering for Umaga to win. In the Rumble match Kennedy gets to the final 4 where Cena comes running in and eliminating him, which leads to an inter promotional match at No Way Out where Kennedy’s buddy MVP interferes and helps out Kennedy for the win. And then Cena will demand a match against both of them at SNME, both GMs accept, but it ends up being a Tag Match Cena and whoever is feuding with MVP vs. MVP & Kennedy. Cena and partner win, but it isn’t over because the following Raw Kennedy says “Cena has never pinned me or made me Tap. He can’t beat me one-on-one” Cena comes out and challenges Kennedy to a Street Fight at Mania, where Kennedy gets help from the “return” of Mark Henry. The following night on raw Cena says he is going to SmackDown to get revenge. T-Lo doesn’t allow Cena in the building, but announces Cena and Batista (who never got revenge on Henry) vs. Henry and Kennedy. In which Cena and Batista win. So that means on RAW its Cena vs. Henry – Cena wins he gets Kennedy at Backlash in Barb Wire Steel Cage. Cena wins and goes on to beat Kennedy at Backlash. On the Way to Judgment Day Kennedy becomes #1 contender, but Cena interferes and cost Kennedy the match and says “You cost me my title, I cost you of yours.” which leads to Hell In A Cell at Vengeance, where Cena wins and ends the feud.
Matt: Well, this got messed up with the delay in posting, but still…History here. I don’t like this. It’s way too cross-brandy, and Cena/Kennedy, while awesome, needs to be on the same brand in order for them to yell at each other for 10 minutes a week for a few months. But mostly it’s the cross brand crap. I don’t like that level of brand-merging.
Nick: Yeah, the cross brand stuff certainly put me off on this one, and the overly gimmicky booking as far as matches also just isn’t to my liking. I don’t like it when WWE needlessly does it, and I don’t like it when other people want to see it for no reason. Much like basically all of the Hell in a Cell matches outside of the first, second and the Lesnar/’Taker one, the match just isn’t necessary.
Matt: Next up, Daniel F’n Wilcox books The Blue Bloods Vs. The Hooliganz. Well, I like it as much as the last one so far. But grab a tea and some crumpets; this is Hardcore Long Term Booking.
Royal Rumble 1/28- WWE Tag Team Championship Match: London & Kendrick vs. Regal & Taylor – London and Kendrick dominate Regal early on but Taylor hits London’s knee with a steel chair behind the referee’s back. Regal and Taylor isolate London and work over his knee for a good 10 minutes until he finally makes the hot tag to Kendrick who comes in like a house on fire. Kendrick misses a thrust kick as Regal ducks and the ref gets bumped. Kendrick continues to dominate, and London goes up top to hit a 450 splash on Taylor, but Regal hits his knee again with a steel chair and London crashes to the floor. Kendrick fights but Regal and Taylor beat him down. But Kendrick dropkicks Taylor into Regal and rolls up Taylor for the quick 3 count! After the match, Regal and Taylor continue to beat down Kendrick. Regal busts Kendrick’s lip with the running knee and they leave. London needs help out as his knee is still hurting him.
SmackDown 2/2- William Regal w/ Dave Taylor vs. Funaki – Regal dominates Funaki in about 4 minutes and gets the pin. Taylor then comes in and Regal holds up Funaki so Taylor can nail him with right hands. Taylor goes out and grabs a steel chair, but Brian Kendrick runs out for the save. He dropkicks the chair back into Taylor’s face and backdrops Regal over the top rope. JBL and Cole say London suffered a broken knee at the Royal Rumble. Kendrick hits a suicide dive onto Regal, but as he gets up, Taylor KILLS him with a chair shot.
SmackDown 2/9- Teddy Long starts the show in the ring. He brings out the WWE Tag Team Champions Paul London and Brian Kendrick. London has a big knee brace on and is walking on crutches. Both are dressed in street clothes. Long says with London’s knee injury, the champs won’t be able to defend their tag titles any time soon. Regretfully, he has no choice but to strip London and Kendrick of the titles. He promises them a shot at whoever the champs are when London is at 100%, they will get a shot. Long says he’s sorry and leaves. London apologizes to Kendrick and they have a very manly hug, before Regal and Taylor jump them from behind. Regal delivers his high knee to both of them. Taylor takes a chair and attacks the knee of London.
SmackDown 2/16- Teddy Long announces tonight’s main event will be a Triple Threat Tag Team Match to determine the new WWE Tag Team Champions! It’ll be William Regal and Dave Taylor taking on Finlay and King Booker and The Brothers of Destruction, Undertaker and Kane! (Note: Taker is scheduled to challenge Batista at No Way Out for the World title.) In the main event, Kane and Taker dominate early, but Batista interferes and brawls to the back with Undertaker. Kane gets isolated by Booker and Finlay. The referee gets bumped late into the match. Booker holds up Kane for Finlay to nail him with the shillelagh but Kane dodges and Finlay hits Booker! Kane chokeslams Finlay but Regal and Taylor come in and beat down Kane. Taylor takes out Kane with the shillelagh and covers for the 3!
No Way Out 2/18-
Full Card: World Heavyweight Championship: Batista (c) vs. Undertaker, United States Championship: Chavo Guerrero (c) vs. Chris Benoit vs. Finlay, King Booker w/ Queen Sharmell vs. Kane, MVP vs. The Boogeyman, Cruiserweight Championship: Gregory Helms (c) vs. Jimmy Wang Yang
After the opening contest for the US Championship which Chavo Guerrero won after interference from King Booker backfired and cost Finlay the match, new tag team champions Regal and Taylor come out and declare that they are the best tag team EVER and yet they don’t even have a match on the PPV. After a few more minutes ranting, Brian Kendrick comes out and says if they want a match they can have one. Kendrick says London is still hurt, but he has found a partner to take them on. Matt Hardy’s music hits and we have an impromptu non-title match. Brian Kendrick pins Taylor after nailing Sliced Bread. After the match, Taylor and Regal start to beat down Kendrick. Hardy tries to make the save but Regal hits the running knee on him. Taylor goes outside to get a chair, but Paul London comes in for the save, swinging his crutch wildly. The champs bail.
SmackDown 2/23- Brian Kendrick beats William Regal in one-on-one action. Taylor tried to interfere but London hits him in the back with a chair. In the ring, London says he is more or less at 100% and they want their rematch at WrestleMania!
SmackDown 3/2- London and Kendrick vs. Finlay and King Booker – London picks up the win after a miscommunication from Booker and Finlay (setting up a match between Finlay and Booker at Mania). Taylor and Regal try to jump London and Kendrick after the match. They toss Kendrick to the floor and start stomping on London. Kendrick comes back in with a chair and the champs bail.
SmackDown 3/9- Paul London vs. Dave Taylor ends in a no-contest when Regal and Kendrick both interfere. Taylor uses a chair to take out London. Regal uses some electrical cords to hang Kendrick over the ring ropes. Taylor holds a chair by London’s head and Regal hits his running knee. They leave their challengers a bloody mess.
SmackDown 3/16- London and Kendrick are both still hurt from last week and aren’t here tonight. Regal and Taylor beat Scotty II Hotty and Funaki in a 5 minute non-title match. Afterwards, Teddy Long comes out and announces the match at WrestleMania is now Two-Out-of-Three Falls!
SmackDown 3/23- The main event of the show is Regal and Taylor doing battle with The Brothers of Destruction, Kane and Undertaker. But to kick off the show, London and Kendrick beat KC James and Idol Stevens in a fun match that lasts about 7 minutes. During the main event, the referee gets knocked down and the freshly turned heel Batista runs in and nails Undertaker (his WrestleMania opponent after Batista intentionally got DQed at NWO) with the Batista Bomb. Regal covers the Deadman and picks up the three.
SmackDown 3/30- Regal and Taylor open the show. They say they are feeling very confident after beating the B.O.D. and tonight, they want to beat somebody up, as an extra warm up for their match at Mania. This brings out Teddy Long who says if they want a warm up, they can put the tag titles on the line against the team they will face at WrestleMania, Paul London and Brian Kendrick – and that match is RIGHT NOW! A referee runs down and rings the bell. London and Kendrick’s music hits. They come through the crowd and attack the champs from behind. London dropkicks Taylor to the floor. Sliced Bread to Regal! London hits the Shooting Star Press off of Kendrick’s back and we have NEW CHAMPS just days before Mania! Taylor is back in with a steel chair. He attacks London’s knee. Kendrick tries to make the save but takes a chair to the throat.
WrestleMania 4/1- The 2 out of 3 Falls Match kicks off the show. London and Kendrick work the arm of Taylor early but he tags out to Regal and they manage to isolate Kendrick. London gets the hot tag and cleans house. London hits the Shooting Star Press from Kendrick’s back to pick up the first fall at around 8 minutes. Taylor attacks London behind the referee’s back and wraps his leg around the ring post several times. The champs now start working London’s knee. He eventually tags out to a fresh Kendrick who gets the upper hand on Regal, but as he runs the ropes, Taylor hits him in the back with a chair, and Regal connects with the running knee and gets the second fall at around 17 minutes. The champs work over the back of Kendrick now using several submission moves but he refuses to give up. Kendrick fights and manages to connect with Sliced Bread and make the tag to London. After a few more minutes of back and forth action, London has Taylor down on the mat, but Regal, the legal man, goes to the top. London follows him up and nails the dropsault! Regal gets dropkicked and London connects with a moonsault on the fallen Taylor. Taylor rolls to the floor now. London launches Kendrick to the top rope and he hurricanranas Regal to the mat! London goes to the top and hits the 450 to pick up the win and retain the tag titles after 25 minutes of action!
SmackDown 4/6- In a non-title match, Idol Stevens and KC James beat London and Kendrick when Regal and Taylor interfere and cost the champs the match.
SmackDown 4/13- WWE Tag Team Championship Match: London and Kendrick vs. Stevens and James – The champs retain after Kendrick’s Sliced Bread connects with Stevens. After the match, Regal and Taylor come to the ring but the champs fight them off and Regal and Taylor decide to leave.
SmackDown 4/20- Regal and Taylor challenge the champions to a British Rules Street Fight in the UK next week for the titles. The champs come out and accept. They charge the ring and all four men brawl. Security and referees are needed to pull them apart.
SmackDown 4/27- In the UK, William Regal and Dave Taylor regain the tag championships in a British Rules Street Fight (essentially a Falls Count Anywhere Match). Regal pins London after one of those nasty overhead suplexes onto the black cabs they always have for the set in the UK. The match goes roughly 20 minutes and Kendrick gets busted open pretty badly.
SmackDown 5/4- Regal and Taylor come out and say that, over the last few months, London and Kendrick have given them one hell of a tough fight and pushed them to their limits, and they would like to invite them out to shake their hands. The former champs come out and they accept the hand shake. They all get a standing ovation. London and Kendrick ask for a rematch, if Regal and Taylor win, that’s it, they are all finished. Regal: “Don’t push your luck, sunshine!” The champs attack London and Kendrick, but they fight back and Teddy Long comes out and makes the rematch for next week. Security has to hold back all four men again.
SmackDown 5/11- WWE Tag Team Championship Match: Regal and Taylor vs. London and Kendrick – London hits the Shooting Star Press from Kendrick’s back and makes the cover on Taylor, but Regal pulls him off the cover. He has his old brass knuckles and nails both challengers with them for the DQ. Teddy Long comes out and says this feud isn’t going to end that way. At Judgment Day, Regal and Taylor will defend the gold again against London and Kendrick, in a 15 foot high, Steel Cage!
SmackDown 5/18- To open the show, Dave Taylor beats Paul London. Regal handed Taylor the brass knuckles and then distracted the referee, allowing Taylor to use the knucks to pick up the victory. Later in the night, Brian Kendrick beats William Regal. The finish came when Taylor distracted the referee and Regal missed with the knucks. Paul London came in and hit a dropsault, and then Kendrick hits a 450 from the top to get the win.
Judgment Day 5/20- WWE Tag Team Championship Steel Cage Match: Regal and Taylor vs. London and Kendrick – Win by pinfall, or BOTH MEN escaping the cage. The champs dominate early, even busting open London by tossing him into the cage. Regal tries to use the knucks, but Kendrick gets hold of them and toss them out of the cage. This is where the challengers get the advantage. Kendrick hits Sliced Bread on Taylor and London gets the Shooting Star off of Kendrick’s back on Regal. Both men climb to the top and Kendrick gets out, but Regal catches London and brings him back in. The champs pummel him, taking it n turns to launch him into the cage, but London reverses one of Regal’s tosses and launches Regal over the ropes and into the cage wall. Taylor charges, but London dodges and sends him into Regal. London hits a dropsault on Taylor then climbs the cage. Regal grabs his ankle and stops him. Taylor climbs the other side and escapes. Both Regal and London fall back into the ring. London gets the better of Regal, but Taylor tosses the brass knuckles back into the ring! Regal misses a shot with them and London hits another dropsault! London has the knucks and nails Regal with them. London climbs to the top and comes off with a 450 Splash! It hits, and London covers for the 3 count and we have new tag team champions! They raise the cage and London and Kendrick have a big celebration, but KC James and Idol Stevens come down to the ring. They beat down the new champs, showing of a brand new arsenal of moves. Regal and Taylor join in the beat down, but James and Stevens turn on them, too! KC James and Idol Stevens leave everyone lying in the ring!
SmackDown 5/25- KC James and Idol Stevens come to the ring to kick off the show. They say they are the new, most dominant tag team in wrestling. London and Kendrick come to the ring but James and Stevens bail. They say if London and Kendrick want to get their hands on them, they will have to put their tag titles on the line. The champs agree and we have a match for later tonight! Towards the end of the match, James and Stevens look to have everything under control, when Regal and Taylor charge the ring with steel chairs. James and Stevens bail, and the former champs turn around into a pair of dropsaults! The match ends in a count-out victory for the champs.
SmackDown 6/1- KC James beats Brian Kendrick after interference from Stevens.
Idol Stevens beats Paul London after interference from James and pulling London’s tights. Regal and Taylor squash Scotty II Hotty and Funaki.
SmackDown 6/8- KC James and Idol Stevens defeat London and Kendrick to win the WWE Tag Team Championships after interference from Regal and Taylor.
SmackDown 6/15- Brian Kendrick and Paul London beat Regal and Taylor to become #1 Contenders. KC James and Idol Stevens do commentary, then try to attack their new challengers after the match, but London and Kendrick clear the ring of not just the champs, but Regal and Taylor.
SmackDown 6/22- WWE Tag Team Championship Match: KC James and Idol Stevens vs. London and Kendrick – As the challengers make their way to the ring, the champs attack from behind. The match never gets under way. They take Kendrick out with a Conchairto, then set a table up on the outside, which James splashes London through. Later on, we see the champs in the parking lot, about to leave, when they see Regal and Taylor. Regal asks if they are proud of themselves. They shouldn’t be, because real men fight face to face. Regal slaps James and they all brawl! Security pulls them apart.
Smackdown 6/29- James and Stevens beat Funaki and Scotty II Hotty to retain the titles in roughly 6 minutes. They start a beat down after the match, but Regal and Taylor make the save and the champs bail through the crowd. Regal and Taylor then beat down Scotty and Funaki themselves.
SmackDown 7/6- KC James and Idol Stevens retain their titles against London and Kendrick in a Lumberjack Match. James and Stevens double teamed London for the win while Regal and Taylor kept London on the floor. After the match, Regal and Taylor chased off the champs, but London sneaks back in and kills both Regal and Taylor with chair shots!
SmackDown 7/13- Teddy Long announces at The Great American Bash, KC James and Idol Stevens will defend their titles in a Triple Threat No DQ Match against London and Kendrick and Regal and Taylor. Paul London beats KC James and William Regal in a Triple Threat match.
SmackDown 7/20- Dave Taylor beats Idol Stevens and Brian Kendrick in a Triple Threat match. After the match, the champs lay out the other four men with their tag titles.
Great American Bash 7/22- Triple Threat Tag Team Championship No DQ Match: James and Stevens vs. Regal and Taylor vs. London and Kendrick – After 20 minutes of all 6 men brawling around the arena, London takes out KC James with a 450 Splash through a table on the floor! Idol Stevens takes out Taylor with a vicious chair shot. Kendrick hits Sliced Bread on Regal. Kendrick and Stevens slug it out. Stevens low blows Kendrick but falls to the floor. London rushes in and jumps off Kendrick’s back and hits the Shooting Star Press on Stevens! But then a guy in red tights runs in and double clotheslines London and Kendrick. He tosses them both to the floor and drags Regal onto Stevens. The referee counts and we have new champions!
SmackDown 7/27- The guy that interfered was Harry Smith and he is joining Regal and Taylor in a new stable. They are going to take over SmackDown. That night, Harry Smith beats Matt Hardy for the US Championship.
Matt: Wow. Outside of a query about long term booking centering on Taylor, who isn’t the most reliable of guys, wow. Finkle, you could be a hero to SD’s writers here.
Nick: Eh, I’ve got some problems with it. First of all, you don’t come back from a broken knee in under a month, and it makes no sense to strip the titles from them if they’re going to be back in action a month after they lose them. Also, they just had the same thing happen for real with Batista last year, it would be overkill to do it again, especially so sloppily. I also don’t like the cage match, because it doesn’t make sense to book it. A cage match should take place when too much interference on somebody’s behalf is ruining matches between the two guys booked to be in the cage or if one guy is constantly running and trying to get away. That, or it’s a real big blood feud, and in that case you should have done the cage match a lot earlier, because at the point you booked it, London and Kendrick had already gotten their revenge for the knee injury and there already was a street fight. If you would have had a cage match instead of a 2/3 falls at ‘Mania, it would have made more sense. Outside of that I like most of what you had going on.
Matt: And next, we have an ECW long term program, as put forth by Reinaldo E. Henry in much briefer terms.
My long term feud would be CM Punk vs. RVD. Van Dam wins the ECW title at Wrestlemania. CM Punk wins the Money in the bank. Since they are both faces. They team up frequently. All the while Punk keeps reassuring RVD that he’ll use his MITB for a title on another show. During one particular episode, the two just won a grueling match over Test and Matt Striker. Just as the ref is about to raise Rob’s hand. He gets cold cocked by Punk with his MITB briefcase. With a mic in his hand, a bloody briefcase and RVD at his feet, and Kelly Kelly at his side. He calmly says, “ONE NIGHT STAND.” These two can go at it for the rest of the year back and forth, off and on.
Matt: Well, outside of the fact that neither RVD nor Punk seems to be in line for anything resembling this sort of push, nice idea. But it’ll never happen.
Nick: I’m all for having this match and feud, but you’re basically telegraphing the Punk turn by having him continually assure Van Dam that he’s going to move to another brand to challenge for a different belt. You’d also be missing the opportunity to have Punk use the Straight Edge heel character that would be absolute gold against Van Dam.
Matt: From one ECW idea to another. Rich C wants to do an ECW/Raw War. Let’s read on, shall we?
On the next ECW TV show I would have RVD lose to Lashley clean and Sabu lose his match via DQ because he used a chair. Lashley moves onto a feud with someone like Test, while RVD and Sabu fade from the spotlight. Have RVD show up a few weeks later on ECW TV only to be told he isn’t scheduled to wrestle on tonight’s show. Have Dreamer job out to Shannon Moore on that nights show and leave dejected. The next day a letter from Dreamer shows up on WWE.com saying he’s disappointed in the current state of ECW and doesn’t know if he can continue with this piece of crap product. Lashley and Test build up their feud which would follow the typical slow Raw pattern match. Lashley and Test finally meet up and have their match with Lashley winning. Post match I have RVD, Sabu, Dreamer and Sandman run in from the crowd and destroy both guys with chairs and Sandman’s cane as the camera fades to black. The next show I would have those 4 original ECW guys stand guard in the ring to open the show in street clothes cutting a promo on how they will never be corporate lackeys and have rediscovered what it means to be extreme thanks to 1 man. Car crash music hits and Foley come out to a huge pop. Foley becomes the groups’ mouth piece as they crash 1 match after another week after week. Each time coming in from the crowd with chairs and escaping before they get taken down. This effectively splits the roster into 3 groups. The Original ECW guys, the WWE Importees and those in the middle or wannabes. The middle could be guys like Steven Richards and Al Snow who aren’t accepted as original ECW guys because their considered sell outs. You could build months around the importees chasing the original ECW guys as they hit and run, while destroying the middle. Build it up to the payoff at next Decembers PPV where RVD wins the title from Test thanks to help from the Dudley Boys.
Matt: Hmm. While I’m all for this idea, I don’t really have faith in WWE to pull off any sort of major Brand Vs. Brand thing anymore, given the amount of times they have tried and failed with it. Still, there are certainly worse ideas.
Nick: Don’t like or want brand interaction stuff, and you’ve got plenty of holes in your idea as well. What is Mick’s reason for backing ECW like this? Last year he was a million percent against them and had become, even though he did hardcore matches, anti-hardcore. You’d have to explain why he’s randomly just coming back to help the guys he wanted to denounce and hold back last summer. Also, if Stevie and Al, low level guys, are considered sell outs, the Dudleyz should be considered big time sell outs, not ECW saviors.
Matt: Next, Sean O’Brien has a go at elevating Helms. Well, it’s a novel idea.
On an episode on Smackdown before No Way Out, Benoit and Helms should have a segment where they bump into each other literally and Helms lets Benoit know who he is. Jimmy Wang Yang needs to beat Helms for the CW belt in a solid TV match later in the evening, either in the main event or right before it, because they do boast of his reign so often. The finish needs to see Benoit walk to ringside and sit in a seat to distract Helms and cost him the belt. This match would also have to be lengthy.
Then the next week Helms blabbers on about Benoit costing him the title, and he demands Benoit put up the US belt in a match. Benoit obliges, but Teddy Long intervenes and asks Helms what has he done to earn it? He then puts Helms in a non title match later in the night against Benoit to earn his shot at NWO. Helms wins with heel tactics and gets his shot. In the weeks leading up to NWO, they have their tag matches and/or ringside commentating to continue the feud. Then at NWO, in a mat classic, Helms defeats Benoit with an illegal pin (tights or feet on the ropes).
This is a solid foundation for a feud where they trade the belt at least another time or two. Later on an injury angle could be played out to prolong it, then have the victim (Helms or Benoit) declare vengeance or whatever. The feud could culminate at Summerslam in some sort of submission match or steel cage or ladder match. This would elevate Helms into a solid mid carder and not cruiser weight fodder. Benoit could continue to stay busy and mentor the mid card.
And lastly, JWY could feud with Jamie Noble over the CW title. They are both ring savvy and actual cruiser weights. Chavo could be thrown in there too, because to me he hasn’t proved he is a decent mid carder. I liked him back in WCW during his interviews though. He was charismatic then and not some forced down your throat heel.
Matt: Chavo is weird. He’s really solid, but he’s never really been given a good, make or break chance. It’s like the WWE doesn’t want to risk finding out he can’t go as a real player on the off chance he can, instead keeping him as a solid mid-card act. Regardless, it gets everyone involved away from Eddie, so I approve on that alone.
Nick: I don’t like the idea that Chavo isn’t worthy, but that has little to do with what you booked. As far as what you booked, I don’t like it much. I love that you want to elevate Helms, but you immediately annoyed me by booking Benoit costing Helms his title. That’s not something Benoit does, and it totally devalues the belt. Benoit can do his trademark laughing at Helms after Helms loses the belt clean in a good long match, though. The match itself has to be built up, too. If it’s just hotshotted off Helms and onto Yang in a match that just happened to be on the card that night, it makes the Cruiser belt look like shit and it’s a waste of Helms’ year+ long reign with it. I also am not a fan of using an injury as a crutch. It’s lazy booking and it’s not good unless a guy really does happen to get the injury he’s leaving because of or he has other reasons to be leaving for a while. Just booking an injury angle and having a guy sit out for a few months fucks over the guy booked to sit out, because it takes away his PPV bonuses and things of that nature, and he doesn’t get to wrestle.
Matt: And the last idea for The Fink, Bram debuts, and incorporates the HHH injury. So Fink, listen up.
It starts with the HBK vs. Orton/Edge match next week. During the episode, HBK uses NEFARIOUS MEANS to injure Orton to take revenge for HHH. That makes the handicap match just a regular match and the episode ends with Edge and HBK brawling out of the arena as the screen fades to black. The next week HBK cuts a promo in the middle of the ring about how last week he got his revenge on Randy Orton and that Edge is next. Later in the show, HBK is walking backstage looking for Edge, but Edge hides and then spears HBK in a hallway and proceeds to beat him down until security pulls them apart. The next week, Edge cuts a promo that is very similar to HBK’s, replacing ‘HHH’ with ‘Orton’. But then he changes tone and becomes self-congratulatory. He applauds himself for taking out the last bit of DX. Then HBK’s music hits and he comes out. He says that Edge may have taken out DX, but The Showstopper, The Main Event, The HEARTBREAK KID! is here and now it is on. HBK runs into the ring, and begins to brawl with Edge before security comes out and pulls them apart. Coach then comes out and books a match for ‘Mania: HBK vs. Edge in a Ladder Match. He theorizes that since HBK was in the inaugural Ladder Match and Wrestlemania X and Edge took part in the classic TLC II from ‘Mania 17, and this is the match where they can both put their considerable talents to good use in a match that they were both influential in the evolution of. At the Royal Rumble, they can both start brawling with each other, but when they both tie up close to the ropes, they are both eliminated by the eventual winner, say CM Punk for example.
This angle keeps both Edge and HBK in a money feud for Wrestlemania. This allows both guys to spend the next 2-3 months putting on ***+ matches with each other and cutting excellent promos. It also allows HBK to move away from the cheesy comedy bits that were a staple of the 2006 DX. It also sets up HHH to feud with Orton after he comes back from this most recent injury. During his “injury time”, they could just take Orton off TV and tweak his character. He could come back 1-2 months before HHH with a character that is trying to escape the Legend Killer gimmick on Smackdown. Between his return and HHH’s, Orton could talk about how he was done with the Legend Killer gimmick and had moved on, proving this by coming out on top of a feud with an upper mid carder on Smack down like Benoit or someone. Then when HHH came back, he could run in on a few of Orton’s matches while Orton tries to lose the Legend Killer gimmick. HHH would then eventually challenge Orton to a match at Summerslam. Orton would accept saying that at Summerslam, he had one last legend to kill: The Legend of HHH.
So this gives Edge and HBK something to do for a few months (if they continue their feud after Wrestlemania). It also allows Orton to drop the Legend Killer gimmick that he should’ve ditched after losing to Hogan. It also offers HHH something to do when he comes back, instead of just chasing after the title again. It also gives more credibility to Summerslam.
Matt: Eh. Without the Legend Killer, Orton’s just a smarmy little git. That’s not interesting. Still, getting him off TV may or may not hurt, depending on your viewpoint.
Nick: It doesn’t make sense to book Edge and Orton in a match for ‘Mania and then also put them in the Rumble match. Your reasoning for the ladder match is also quite contrived, and they have nothing that they’re actually fighting for to have hanging above. I get that you want to see them in a ladder match, but it doesn’t make a damn bit of sense. I’ve already talked about how I don’t like injury angles, even if it is Orton. And on that, if you are going to take him away for a while, instead of having him talk about not being the legend killer any more, just have him not mention it at all and just move on from it. The time off is what would accomplish people getting that out of their heads, and bringing him back and having him talk about it makes all of that time off a big waste. When you take a guy off TV to retool him, you generally are going to change more about his character than just his nickname, too. I like doing Edge vs. Michaels, and it was a match I wanted to see for ‘Mania prior to Triple H’s injury, but I don’t like the way you went about it.
Matt: And that was it, apart from a TNA idea which didn’t really fit in with the column, plus it involved guys I don’t know off hand (Alex Shelly, yes. Davey Richards, I know him. Irish Airborne…not so much. Still, thanks for writing in Billy Ayers.)
So, on to our ideas.
I’ll go simple. DX Reborn (HBK, Johnny Jeter, The Hardyz and Torrie Wilson) vs. The Four Horsemen (Flair, Orton, Edge, Kenny and Arn). Do a double turn at Summerslam in Wargames when HHH turns on DX, helping the Horsemen and Umaga, then taking Edge’s place in the Horsemen, and that’s 2007 mostly taken care of.
Nick: Love Wargames, don’t like your idea. Oh… that’s not what I’m supposed to be doing there. Well then. My idea comes off something I said in my column last week, and it has to do with the booking of the WWE Championship more than just a singular feud. In short, Umaga wins the title at ‘Mania in a fatal four way elimination match (against Cena, Edge and Michaels). Edge and Orton end up continuing to team together after not liking something the World’s Greatest Tag Team said about them after they took the tag belts before WrestleMania, and they do their feud from after WrestleMania into the early summer. Here’s where the WWE title stuff kicks in, as Shawn Michaels becomes Umaga’s big challenger. Cena, who is leaving to film another movie after WrestleMania, is eliminated first from the match, Edge next and Michaels last. Shawn and Umaga have a series of three one-on-one matches at Backlash, RAW and Vengeance, with Michaels winning the last one to get the title. This leads to him and Edge having the feud/match I had been wanting for WrestleMania that leads into SummerSlam and a bit beyond. Edge would win the title at SummerSlam and finally get the reign he deserves, which would include a one-on-one PPV match against Cena one last time (for now, as they both have long careers ahead of them), where Edge is able to retain the belt clean.
Matt: Finally, done. Phew, I need a break.
Nick: If you want to see your idea on 411, mister Billy Ayers, check out my column, the News to Start Your Weekend on Friday morning. I’ll put it up for you, as I surely know your cast of characters.
Matt: Time for your homework.
We’re building up to the Rumble, and thus WM. But there is No Way Out to consider. Doesn’t it deserve some sort of decent build? We believe it does, so book SmackDown’s February PPV, No Way Out. You can continue your idea to WM if you like.
Send those ideas here, in case you’ve forgotten..
Until next week (hopefully),
Matt & Nick
